Mystery Package!

So I was *just* thinking this morning about how I needed to figure out something to blog about. Well, Disney beat me to it! When I went to my mailbox this morning there was something completely unexpected!

Oh hey there, Mr. Incredible! What on earth are you doing in my mailbox??? 

I love all the personalized stuff they send! I'm planning on making a scrapbook and it will come in super handy!

This magnet popped out of the back of the booklet with all of our "important dates", like when to make FP+ reservations!

There's a tiny flash drive in there! It looks like one of the MagicBand touchpoints!

And it lights up when you plug it in! How cute!

When I popped it in, it took me to the MyMagic+ Briefing with Edna Mode videos that are available through My Disney Experience. So, not really a huge deal, but it was fun to receive the package, and that flash drive is too cute!

In other news, I'm on break from school! I kicked butt last semester, and look forward to kicking even more next semester. And to top it all off, our vacation is during the week between next semester and the semester after! 138 days!

Making the Magic: Disney surprises, part 1

So since the beginning of this planning adventure, I've read a lot of posts on Disney forums from other planners. I had, from the beginning, had it in my mind that I'd like to have a few surprises along the way. It turns out that a lot of others have similar ideas. The most common I've read was having small gifts that "Tinkerbell" leaves for the kids to find in the morning. We'll be doing a spin on that. I have most of the gifts planned out, from different characters (mainly princesses, obviously), perhaps Tinkerbell is the delivery fairy at the world? Anyway, here's what I've got so far. I'm trying to plan them all for the morning to help ease them out of bed:

5/3 is our arrival day. We've got some stuff planned early on. Obviously our arrival, rental car pickup, then meeting up with a friend, stopping at Walmart to buy supplies for the week at non-Disney prices, that kind of thing. I intend to abandon the kids with David for a bit and sneak to the room for this one. In the room waiting for them will be a "welcome" letter from Ariel (since we're staying in a Little Mermaid room), along with new bathing suits, towels, sunglasses, that kind of thing. And then they'll get to spend some time hanging out at the pool with their new stuff, then we'll go to dinner. I'm thinking some new pajamas and a note from Belle will be waiting on them when we return to the room that evening.

5/4 is our first park day. We'll be splitting it between Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, I'm not sure about this one yet.

5/5 we're spending the day in Animal Kingdom, along with breakfast at Tusker House with the safari characters, so I'm thinking maybe a plush safari character will be waiting for them when they wake up, along with a note from them?

5/6 is a Magic Kingdom Day. Not sure about this one either. Maybe mouse ears?

5/7 we'll be going to Hollywood Studios for the first part of the day and lunch with the Disney Jr characters. I'm not sure what the lineup will be, but I AM sure that we'll be meeting Sofia the First, who just may be my 4 year old's favorite princess. I'm thinking the Amulet of Avalor for Bella. I'm not sure about Penny yet, I'm thinking she'll probably show some sort of Disney Jr character preference over the next 6 months, but right now she doesn't have any. Come on, she's 8 months old.

5/8 is our "World Showcase" day at Epcot. Between now and then I need to get the Duffy book to familiarize them with the story, because I plan on giving them Duffy bears for this, and an Epcot passport for Bella, which I'll need to pick up the day before

5/9 is our last park day, and will be the big one, as far as surprises go. Bella will be receiving an invitation to come to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique to have her hair and nails done by a "fairy godmother in training", and they'll both get princess dresses and an invitation from Cinderella herself to come eat dinner in the castle, as well as an invitation to go to a special dessert party during the fireworks. I'm OMGSOEXCITED about this one.

5/10 is the day we leave. Super sadface. I'm thinking a "we enjoyed having you" letter from Mickey and the gang and a giftcard to go pick out one last souvenir.


I've obviously put a lot of thought into this, especially since our trip is 174 days out. I'm sure there will be alterations as we get closer, but this is what I've got so far!

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ADRs are made!

So let me tell you about getting advanced dining reservations. You can make them 180 days prior to your arrival if you're staying on site, which we are, so on November 4th I was ready, at my computer at 6:15am since reservations open at 6:30. It wasn't a big deal, waking up, since I had a pharmacology class at 8, I was normally up at that time anyway. Well here's the thing: the online reservation system didn't give me the option to book all of my dates, only the one for arrival day. UUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH < that's the sound I made when I figured this out. So I was ready to call the dining line when it opened at 7am. By ready, I mean at 6:58 I started dialing "We're sorry, but no one is available to answer your call at this time. Our hours are..." as soon as I heard the word "sorry" I would hang up and redial. after doing this about 6 times, I finally got through. And had to wait for 45 MINUTES to talk to a real person. I did get through, but by the time I got off the phone, it was 7:58. Did I mention pharmacology lecture starts at 8? It's a good thing I'm a kick ass student, because by that time my bed (and the sweet baby sleeping in it) were calling my name in a way I could not ignore. One lecture won't hurt. Thanks, Disney!


But, we got all of them! Here's the list:

5/4: Mama Melrose's Fantasmic! dinner dining package, 6pm, Fantasmic! at 9pm
5/5: Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House, 10:30am
5/6: 'Ohana dinner, 5:00pm
5/7: Play and Dine Breakfast with the Disney Jr. Characters at Hollywood & Vine, 11am
5/8: Coral Reef lunch, 11:30am; Via Napoli dinner 6:20pm
5/9: Bella's appointment at Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique, 3:30pm; Cinderella's Royal Table dinner, 5:30pm,           Fireworks Dessert Party, 9pm, fireworks start at 10pm

So there you have it! It's official! Over the next 176 days I need to pay off our trip, buy luggage (we've never been on vacation, so we don't have any!), buy all the rest of the things we need for the trip (photopass!), buy plane tickets, reserve a rental car, figure out what surprises Tinkerbell will be leaving in the room for the girls. The list goes on. I feel like my plans are pretty solid though. My next post will probably be about the list of Tinkerbell gifts I've compiled so far, because it's SO EXCITING!

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Advanced Dining Reservations

So Disney does this crazy thing where they open up dining reservations 180 days in advance. 180. 6 months, give or take. My answer to "What do you want for dinner tonight?" Is nearly always "I don't know". 6 months from now? Are you freaking serious? Alas, I have a pretty solid plan of what we want to eat and when. How did I do this, you ask? Well, here ya go. I'm including dining plan details as well, we'll have the standard Disney Ding Plan, which includes one Quick Service (QS) meal, one Table Service (TS), and one snack per day, for 7 days:

Sunday May 4th, our first park day: We plan on starting out the day at Magic Kingdom (rope drop, duh), because of course we want the castle to be the first thing the littles see. Whenever B watches a Disney movie and the logo comes up she's all "That's Cinderella's castle! Isn't it beautiful? I'd love to go there someday!" Gah! Did I mention how exciting this is for me? I'll be a blubbering mess the whole day, no doubt. But anyway, we'll get there at rope drop with no exact plans, hit Dumbo, Small World, Peter Pan, etc, and then eat lunch at Be Our Guest (QS). No reservation needed there. After lunch we intend to hop on over to Hollywood Studios. Hopefully FastPass+ will be in full swing by then and I'll be able to snag an oh-so-coveted time slot for Toy Story Midway Mania. Mama ain't got time for no 2 hour lines. But yeah, we'll be at Hollywood studios, so we need a reservation at Mama Melrose's (TS). Probably around 6 since we want to catch Fantasmic! afterward.
Total for the day: 1 QS, 1 TS

Monday May 5th: We'll spend the whole day at Animal Kingdom. It has early Extra Magic Hours that day, so my original plan of snagging the earliest breakfast is a no go. Bummer. Ah well, the show must go on. We'll arrive early, catch the Safari, and aim for a late breakfast reservation at Tusker House (TS), hosted by Safari Donald. We'll have lunch at Flame Tree BBQ (QS), and then head over to Animal Kingdom Lodge to do some exploring. Dinner will be either at AKL or back at our home resort, AoA (QS).
Total for the day: 2 QS, 1 TS

Tuesday, May 6th: This is a Magic Kingdom day. As in, all Magic Kingdom, all day. I don't know where we'll eat lunch. It depends on where we end up. It'll be quick service. We're aiming for the earlier dinner reservation at 'Ohana (TS).
Total for the day: 1 QS, 1 TS

Wednesday, May 7th: We'll start our day off in Hollywood Studios. I'm pretty excited about the Hollywood & Vine reservation I'll try to snag (TS). It's a lunch buffet with the Disney Junior characters. Right up my kiddo's ally. I'm aiming for the earlier lunch reservation. We'll hop to Epcot later and have dinner at Sunshine Seasons (QS)
Total for the day: 1 QS, 1 TS

Thursday, May 8th: Epcot day. We want the earliest lunch reservation for Coral Reef (TS) so we can request a table by the tank. This is the one David's most excited about, I think. There's steak on the menu, and the you can see inside the aquarium from anywhere in the restaurant. SO David. For dinner that night we'll eat at Via Napoli, which is generally a table service credit, but I don't think it's a good use of our credits, so we'll pay out of pocket.
Total for the day: 1 TS

Friday, May 9th: All Magic Kingdom, All day. This is the day. THE. DAY. I'm so excited, you guys. We'll be having lunch at who cares where (QS) and dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table (TS x 2). In the castle. So excited! CRT is a 2 credit meal. Fancy Pants. I also need to make a reservation for Bella to get her hair did by a Fairy Godmother in training at the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique. And when it comes closer to our dates, I also need to make reservations for the Dessert Party during Wishes. We're doing it up.
Total for the day: 1 QS, 2 TS

Grand Total: 6 QS, 7 TS

We'll use the extra QS for either dinner on our arrival day, or lunch before we leave. It doesn't matter. And snacks, well, we'll see.

So there is is, a painfully long, detailed description of the ADRs that I'm aiming for and why I want them. And for my reference, a list:

Sunday 5/4: Mama Melrose’s dinner 5:00-10:00 (Choose around 6:00ish)

Monday 5/5: Tusker House Breakfast 8:00-10:55 (Choose late breakfast, because EMH)

Tuesday 5/6: Dinner at O’hana: 5:00-10:00 (Choose EARLIEST available)

Wednesday 5/7: Hollywood and VIne lunch: 11:00-2:00 (Choose EARLIEST)

Thursday 5/8: Coral Reef lunch: 11:00-2:00 (Choose EARLIEST)

         Via Napoli dinner: aim for 6ish

Friday 5/9: Cinderella’s Royal Table: 5:00-10:00 (Choose 5:00ish)
Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique: 1-2ish?

I'll be up and at my computer at 6:15am on Monday, ready to make all of our reservations. Yep, pretty early. I have class at 8, so it's just about perfect. I'm ready!

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Hi there!

I should probably introduce myself, just in case someone ever stumbles upon this blog without knowing who I am (as if anyone wants to read my word vomit :P). Anyway, I'm Brittney. I'm a 23 year old mama and nursing student. I've been married to my awesome husband, David for 5 years, and, let's be real. We love Disney. It may be a giant, evil, mindsucking corporation, but it's our giant, evil, mindsucking corporation, you know? We both have fond memories of watching Disney movies as kids, and now that we have our own, we're reliving our childhoods all over again. Every. Freaking. Day. "Mommy! I wanna watch Belle!"Cool story, kid. That would be my little princess, by the way. Bella. She's 4, and she's the bomb. Fierce and fabulous, and very much going to lose her shit when we hit The World. She has no idea, and it's going to stay that way until we get there. Surprise, kiddo. The baby princess won't be quite as excited, but she'll still have a blast, I'm sure. Penny is 8 months old and will be just over a year when we go. 184 days! I can make my dining reservations on Monday! I need to give them one more quick glance, but I'm pretty sure I know exactly what we want, so until next time!

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